No free camping on Yorke Peninsula SA.

Santa · Guru

No free camping on Yorke Peninsula SA.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

There's ways around this ., People free camp anyway ., Just hide better .

Santa · Guru

Aus-Kiwi wrote:
There's ways around this ., People free camp anyway ., Just hide better .

Yep, I fully realise this goes on, not a practice I indulge in nor approve of.

dazz49 · Senior Member

Santa wrote:
There are very few legal free camps on YP now, $10 per night at all of the coastal camps and rangers patrol em quite actively, no wonder SA has always been on the verge of bankruptcy, they seem to do their utmost to discourage visitors.
http://www.visityorkepeninsula.com.au/where-can-i-camp

-- Edited by Santa on Monday 2nd of January 2017 09:53:57 AM

So Santa, Do you think it all should be for free ?? I quietly take umbrage to your opinion of SA and I divulge that I am south aussie born and raised.

Yes we would all like everything for nothing , but these days with our attitudes of wanting everything provided some one has to pay. Tracks have to be graded, areas have to be cleared of rubbish, and SES and emergency services have to be on standby at all time. So if you cant afford $10 per day to stay in a picturesque part of SA with good clean air, good fishing, and not over crowded like the East coast, then either you are tight wad or too poor to travel and should stay at home. SA is an undiscovered gem for a lot of travellers, with the magnificent Flinders ranges, Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas, the wonderful Barossa valley and McLaren Vale wine regions, the Adelaide Hills and Strathalbyn, the majestic river Murray, the coorong , the South East with its caves and lakes, KI and the Fleurieu plus the outback with places such as Innamincka, Coober Pedy etc. And with all that there are plenty of places to stop overnight at NO COST. Cheers Daz

Cheers Daz

Santa · Guru

Simply a heads up Dazz, your welcome to your opinion, I've expressed mine.

"either you are tight wad or too poor to travel and should stay at home." nope, wife and I traveled to the US twice in 2016, another trip booked later in 2017.

We get around a bit in our motor home as well, that's a pic of us in my avatar, camped North of Port Augusta on the way to WA via NT.

You know, I was going to expand further, but really cant be bothered, thanks for taking the time to reply. wink

-- Edited by Santa on Monday 2nd of January 2017 10:57:12 PM

-- Edited by Santa on Monday 2nd of January 2017 10:58:22 PM

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

My point is I have everything to stay out there for Atleast 2 weeks . Including grey and black water . Why should I pay rent when I don't need to? Don't expect anything for free . Next truckies will be charged to stop overnight ?

dundreamin · Veteran Member

I too am SA born & raised & have travelled to various areas of the YP on at least 4 occasions & I totally agree with Guru. As far as being "too poor to travel if you can't afford to pay $10/night", why should we when we've already invested thousands of $'s on tanks, solar, batteries etc.
A lot of money has been invested in my rig to make it fully SC & certified Leave No Trace for free camping & I don't see why I should have to pay again to do that.
As far as maintaining the roads goes, I haven't seen any evidence of that on YP. The roads are the worst I've encountered & I've now sworn I will never go back. Scenic dirt roads are a corrugated nightmare & the bitumen isn't much better. Even the roads I went on in the lower Flinders were heaps better.
There are some stunning places on YP if they would just provide some decent roads & a few free camps here & there it'd be great.

-- Edited by dundreamin on Saturday 25th of February 2017 09:43:52 AM

adreamer · Senior Member

I live in South Australia, born, worked all my life here, paid my taxes and yes this State is going into Bankruptcy under this Labor and prior Labor Governments. I am about to depart forever.

As far as the Yorke Peninsula, I can think of a thousand places to camp. If I am asked to pay something, it wouldn't be $10 per night!!

Helen

Blueys 64 · Member

Ten bucks a night sounds pretty good to me.

Ten bucks doesnt buy much these days.

But whatever floats ya boat.

Cheers.

Bluey and Denise Eastwell.

PeterInSa · Guru

My understanding is that what got the upgrades ( Toilets) on these $10 sites etc was that years ago, on a site on the East coast of YP, one or two families camped for around 3 months using the nearby toilets and accumulating rubbish and car parts, this got the council thinking on how to move these people on and stop it happening in the future, hence the upgardes/charges.

Rob Driver · Guru

Santa wrote:
There are very few legal free camps on YP now, $10 per night at all of the coastal camps and rangers patrol em quite actively, no wonder SA has always been on the verge of bankruptcy, they seem to do their utmost to discourage visitors.
http://www.visityorkepeninsula.com.au/where-can-i-camp

-- Edited by Santa on Monday 2nd of January 2017 09:53:57 AM

It was several years ago that we travelled the YP.

I found that the majority of so called free camps were more suited to tent and camper trailer people and to get a van into some of these spots were difficult if not, impossible. In most cases it was easier to pay and stay in parks.

From what I have seen with the filthy habits of some people, it is no wonder councils charge for monitoring and cleaning up.

My coast of choice for SA is the Eyre Peninsula. Generally access is easy, there at most times is plenty of room to move and it is far enough from Adelaide not to have it overun with weekend warriors.

Gary and Barb · Senior Member

So Santa, Do you think it all should be for free ?? I quietly take umbrage to your opinion of SA and I divulge that I am south aussie born and raised.
Yes we would all like everything for nothing , but these days with our attitudes of wanting everything provided some one has to pay. Tracks have to be graded, areas have to be cleared of rubbish, and SES and emergency services have to be on standby at all time. So if you cant afford $10 per day to stay in a picturesque part of SA with good clean air, good fishing, and not over crowded like the East coast, then either you are tight wad or too poor to travel and should stay at home. SA is an undiscovered gem for a lot of travellers, with the magnificent Flinders ranges, Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas, the wonderful Barossa valley and McLaren Vale wine regions, the Adelaide Hills and Strathalbyn, the majestic river Murray, the coorong , the South East with its caves and lakes, KI and the Fleurieu plus the outback with places such as Innamincka, Coober Pedy etc. And with all that there are plenty of places to stop overnight at NO COST. Cheers Daz
Cheers Daz

Dazz,

I have fallen in love with SA over the past few years and travel it extensively. I have another trip planned for about 3 months, most of it in SA outback.

In Victoria, nearly all parks are free - entry, camping, etc. I was outraged when this happened some 15 years ago, thinking that Parks would miss out on revenue and people would trash the system. However, it has been a raging success with the opposite happening. Maybe policing and maintaining the old pay system was too difficult, labour intensive and expensive? Counter-productive! Whatever, Parks Vic has shown some imaginative ways to make it work, such as educating the public and locals, encouraging volunteer Camp Hosts (I'm one of thousands) and working with FWD Vic and other groups to help protect, maintain and develop the parks. Apart from a few DH's, visitors to parks are now well educated on how to value these assets. Park staff can now get on with the work they should be doing instead of wasting their expertise and time acting as policemen and janitors. These people a re professionals with degrees and a passion for their jobs.

FWDV is very proactive and has a great relationship with government and Parks authorities because they work WITH them to protect the environment. Members clear tracks, maintains trails, look after camp areas, remove rubbish, report offences and assist authorities. This is the envy - and maybe the solution - for other states. Parks belong to the people and need to know that parks usage is a privilege. Then the people are to be empowered to help preserve them. This is happening in Victoria. A by-product is that local communities benefit from the increased tourists.

I have since been horrified by the punitive costs that WA, SA and now NT have imposed. Camping fees, transit fees, entry fees and even hiking fees! It discourages people to not visit parks or to illegally and destructively sidestep the system. When they do this, they also have little concern for looking after their camp areas in the correct manner. After all, they know they are doing wrong and may as well be hung for a sheep as a lamb! We've all seen that happen.

Here endeth the lesson...

Cuppa · Guru

I take the view that providing free short term camps should be the responsibility of all shires.

Many already do of course, including my home shire.

I don't begrudge our council using their funds to do this for folk passing through at all. No different to providing public toilets or pavements or streetlights.

But I do expect reciprocal arrangements when I go elsewhere.

I understand that some councils are wealthier than others on account of population numbers, but see no reason why City councils shouldn't contribute to the provision for short term stays in rural areas (for example) that their ratepayers like to visit when travelling.

As it is, it seems to me that it is often the less populated areas which do a far better job of provision of short term free camps than their wealthier counterparts in more populated areas.

RickJ · Senior Member

I have not explored the Yorke Peninsula of SA (yet) but after seeing this old resurrected topic I thought it worthy of a look.

I bought it up on Wiki Camps to check it out and the peninsula doesnt appear to be that big.

I would hazard a guess that there might only be a maximum of maybe two or three council areas at the most.

My observation shows what could amount to 60 odd camping sites and most of them appear to be on the coast. (Water, Beach etc.)

If we just pause and consider that if we divided the number of camping areas by the number of responsible council areas then simple mathematics might give an indication as to why many of them arent free to use.

If there are three councils responsible for the Peninsula then a rough division would have them responsible for approximately 20 camping areas each. If there are only two or even only one council then the maintenance cost to each council gets even worse.

I clicked on a few of the camps and the costs were $10 to $20 which for a beach site on a scale compared to the rest of the coastal strips of Australia is very cheap in my opinion.
I dont think that those prices would put me off holidaying on the Yorke Peninsula.

There are councils that offer free sites in many rural towns in the hope that those taking the free site will spend money but over time what actually happens is unfortunately a bit different in real life.

For every free camp there is still a cost to Council and to ratepayers, and when council foots the bill, ratepayers either pay extra or receive a lesser service for something else within their shire.

My thoughts are, expect a fee and if it is free then that is a bonus and might help you go and have a meal in the local pub or a lunch in a nice local cafe.

-- Edited by RickJ on Monday 16th of January 2023 09:43:43 PM

mixo · Senior Member

The way I see it, 10 bucks is better than 80 - 100 in a caravan park with my family.

Simple maths to figure out what is value....

mixo

Whenarewethere · Guru

We stayed on the Your Peninsula for a week at no cost other than the food, water, restaurants & petrol we bought, but then we are not towing the QE2 3!

In one of the areas we saw the toilet truck vacuum cleaner NOT doing the job properly. Next day reported it to Council, gave all our details so if the company wanted to argue the issue, we were witnesses. I will come down on anyone in these situations like a 10 tonnes of bricks.

2 days later the same company was sent out so vacuum the toilet properly. We were at the same free camp.

If you can't find free camping, try harder.

We pay for all the tourist toilet cleaning on Sydney Northern Beaches with our Council Rates & provide better paper, so fair is fair.

RickJ · Senior Member

Whenarewethere wrote:
We stayed on the Your Peninsula for a week at no cost other than the food, water, restaurants & petrol we bought, but then we are not towing the QE2 3!

In one of the areas we saw the toilet truck vacuum cleaner NOT doing the job properly. Next day reported it to Council, gave all our details so if the company wanted to argue the issue, we were witnesses. I will come down on anyone in these situations like a 10 tonnes of bricks.

2 days later the same company was sent out so vacuum the toilet properly. We were at the same free camp.

If you can't find free camping, try harder.

We pay for all the tourist toilet cleaning on Sydney Northern Beaches with our Council Rates & provide better paper, so fair is fair.

Next time I come down to Sydney I will set up my van at one of the Northern Beaches. That location will be close to our rellies when we visit.

Can you recommend the best spot for a free camp for about a week. I can be a little bit flexible if needed.

The best info you can ever get with travel info is from a local, thanks WAWT.

RickJ · Senior Member

Back to SA, I did some research on the Yorke Peninsula and there is only ONE council responsible for the entire area.

From the link here; https://www.lga.sa.gov.au/sa-councils/councils-listing

The peninsula is divided into 3 areas being called WARDS. as indicated by the lines on the map.

The maintenance of free camps would be almost out of the question financially for the council and its ratepayers.

Lets assume there are 60 camp areas and each one attracts a cost of very conservatively $50 for each maintenance visit. This would equate to an amount of $3000 per maintenance day. Lets service every site twice a week and no camper would ever complain, would they?

$6000 per week will equal $312.000.00 per annum.

The Yoke Peninsula has a population of < 12000 people according to this site.; https://profile.id.com.au/rda-yorke-mid-north/about?WebID=200

Not all of these people would be ratepayers.

Well there will need to be a lot of spending by Mr and Mrs Longpockets to cover that cost, and that pricing is very conservative.

WAWT mentioned a truck with a vacuum pump for a toilet, now that might cost a little more than $50 to drive from a depot pump a toilet attend a disposal site for discharge and return to the depot. This does not take into account rubbish and mowing and other general maintenance and repairs. $50 is extremely conservative, the price could easily double in real costs.

As we travel we cannot expect small population councils to pay for ours or anothers recreation. A few bucks each night is not a lot to ask for a site, particularly if the location is in a pristine area and on the coast of any state in Australia.

If the cost is a problem financially, as opposed to having a subject to whinge and moan about, then it is easy, stay home.

-- Edited by RickJ on Tuesday 17th of January 2023 12:19:27 PM

-- Edited by RickJ on Tuesday 17th of January 2023 12:22:24 PM

-- Edited by RickJ on Tuesday 17th of January 2023 12:30:40 PM

Wannabe nomad · Senior Member

There used to be some free camps on Y.P. but now there is not. Oh well I'll just build a bridge and get on with it. Just the way I gave too when one person is charged the same as two

Plain Truth · Guru

Looks like it is $20 dollars a night now.

yorke 1.JPG

Ivan 01 · Guru

I worked for a few years on the Eyre Peninsula and over that time my wife and I had a camper trailer and we found many spots all over the peninsula.

Very few sites attracted a fee as most of them were free. They also were hardly ever crowded and always seemed to have plenty of room.
My wife and I loved that coastline but there were many inland free sites as well.
We saw most of the Peninsula over the three years we were there for little cost apart from the food and fuel.

If the York Peninsula is out of the question or too crowded then I would give the EP a try.